==The Core Disciplines: History, Geography, Economics, and Civics ==
How will a coordinated study of these core disciplines contribute to effective citizenship? If all students take history or economics, it is obviously not because all students will become historians or economists. But history, geography, economics, and civics each offer distinct approaches and develop specific skills for examining common subject matter, which can be integrated in addressing a particular issue or event. What follows is a brief explanation of the specific importance of each core discipline. Historyorganizes events and phenomena in terms of when they occurred, examining where, how, and why they took place. Students study how individuals and societies have changed and interacted over time. They gather historical data, then examine, analyze, and interpret this data, presenting their results in a clear, critical manner. They organize events through chronologies, and evaluate cause-and-effect relationships among them. Citizens need to be able to research issues in order to understand the effect of historical developments and trends on contemporary events. They need the ability to examine the actions of other people faced with similar choices in different times. Studying history empowers students to form conclusions about the potential consequences of available options. Geographyorganizes life situations in terms of where they occur. People interact with the natural world in culturally distinct ways to produce unique places, and those places change over time. The methods and perspectives of geography give students a spatial understanding of the world, and the ability to evaluate information in spatial terms. Citizens need to be able to examine the varying ways that peoples interact with their environments, and appreciate the diversity of the places those interactions create. They need to understand that the different ways in which people view places and conceptualize regions will affect their actions. Studying geography increases students' ability to analyze complex situations, events, and trends, and draw logical inferences from them. Economicsanalyzes the production, allocation, distribution, and use of resources. Students examine the inherent relationship between costs and benefits, and the values associated with them. Understanding economic principles, whole economies, and the interactions between different types of economies helps students comprehend the exchange of information, capital, and products across the globe. Citizens need to be able to assess the impact of market influences and governmental actions on the economy in which they live. They need to understand the relation of economic systems and values to cultural values. Studying economics better equips students to make sound personal economic choices, and to participate effectively in social decision-making as citizens in an increasingly competitive and interdependent global economy. Civicsdirectly addresses citizenship education in the context of political systems. Students study the assumptions upon which governments are founded, and the strategies governments employ to achieve their goals. With respect to the United States, students learn the underlying principles of representative democracy, the constitutional separation of powers, and the rule of law. Citizens need to comprehend that an essential premise of representative democracy is the willingness to place a premium on personal participation in social decision-making. Studying civics prepares students to translate beliefs into actions and ideas into policies, to discharge their responsibilities while protecting their rights and the rights of others.
Region Focus
Content Focus
Standard Focus
Standards and Benchmark Terms**
Europe
Focus Question: How have the major events, ideas and societies of the Middle Ages influenced modern culture?
Civics
Forms of government
Monarchy – absolute vs. constitutional
Democratic governments
Collapse of communism
New governments
Economics
Industrial Revolution
Differences in standards of living
Land use
Government
Trade centers
Formation of EU
Geography
size/interdependence
Characteristics of regions
British Isles
Eastern Europe
Mediterranean
Northern Europe
Western Europe
Isolation and landlocked
• pros and cons
Climate
***It is recommended that you begin each unit of study of physical and political geography.
History
Chronology
• Plague
• Industrial Revolution
Analysis
• Magna Carta
• English Bill of Rights
Interpretation
• Reformation
• World Wars
Content
• Feudal system, manors, serfs
Standards for Focus and Assessment: History 1 - Students will examine historical materials relating to a particular region, society, or theme; analyze change over time, and make logical inferences concerning cause and effect. Benchmark Terms:
Historical materials
Theme
Change over time
Logical inference
Cause
Effect
Region Focus
Content Focus
Standard Focus
Standards and Benchmark Terms
======Meso-America====== (Mexico, Central America and Caribbean) Focus Question: How have government policies and other factors affected trade, interdependence and production among nations of Meso-America?
Civics
• Puerto Rico territory vs.
statehood
• Immigration to USA – reasons – political and economic, immigration laws and procedures Geography
Archipelagos
Mountains/Volcanoes
Panama Canal
Wind/water effects leeward vs. windward, ocean currents
History
Primary Sources
Mayan/Aztec/Columbus and Caribs
Effects of European colonization and move towards independence
***It is recommended that you begin each unit of study of physical and political geography.
Economics
Microeconomics/Macro-
economics
• Current Event Activities
Economic Systems
Traditional vs. Market
Cuba-Command
Economy
International Trade
Factors of specializtion climate, size, location
Trade – NAFTA
Change in trade patterns
Change in income
Standards for Focus and Assessment: Econ 4 - Students will examine how nations with different economic systems specialize and become interdependent through trade and how government policies allow either free or restricted trade. Benchmark Terms:
Specialize
Interdependent
Free trade
Restricted trade Related Terms:
Embargo
Quota
Tariff
Subsidy
Surplus - Shortage
Domestic
Import - Export
|| Region Focus
Content Focus
Standard Focus
Standards and Benchmark Terms
North America Focus Question: In the Northern Hemisphere, how have political leaders encouraged their citizens to participate in government?
Economics
• Products and resources
-- identification of
-- Canada - #1 trading
partner
-- NAFTA
Geography
US-Canada Comparison
• landforms
• Great Lakes
• St. Lawrence Seaway vs.
Mississippi River
climate patterns and relationship to latitude
political boundaries
History
French settlements
French & Indian War
Timelines
***It is recommended that you begin each unit of study of physical and political geography.
Civics
Government
• monarchy vs. republic
• Confederation (self-rule)
• functions of branches
• NATO – structure and
purpose
Politics
• Nunavut Territory – 1999
• French as a minority –
official language
Citizenship
• US-Canadian migration
Underground Railroad
Vietnam Draft Dodgers
Participation
• Referendum secession –
Quebec
Standards for Focus and Assessment: Civics 3b - Students will understand that American citizenship includes responsibilities such as voting, jury duty, obeying the law, service in the armed forces when required, and public service. Civics 4 - Students will follow the actions of elected officials, and understand and employ the mechanisms for communicating with them while in office. Benchmark Terms:
Civil rights
Secure
Political
Public service
Property
Mechanisms
Rights
|| Region Focus
Content Focus
Standard Focus
Standards and Benchmark Terms
South America and Antarctica Focus Question: How have South American cultures developed into distinct geographic regions with unique patterns of economic, cultural and political features?
Civics
Antarctica – Division of Power
South America – varying forms of government and leadership
Economics
Tribal Economies
Features of land-based economies (coffee, tin, copper, sugar, oil, beef, tropical rainforests products)
History
Inca civilization
Early civilizations – interaction with Europeans
Early Colonization Portugal vs. Spain
Line of Demarcation
Simon Bolivar
Geography
Maps
• Hemispheres
• Lines of Latitude,
Equator, Tropic of
Capricorn, Antarctic
Circle
• Mental maps
Environment
• Formation of Andes and rivers
• Unique environments (deserts, rainforests, pampas, tundra)
Places
• Economic issues of
landlocked countries
(Bolivia, Paraguay)
• Brazil – Case Study
Regions
• Patagonia, Pampas, Llanos, Highlands, Amazon Basin, Andes, Coastal Plains
Standards for Focus and Assessment: Geog 3 – Students will identify and explain the major cultural patterns of human activity in the world's sub-regions. Geog 4a - Students will understand the processes affecting the location of economic activities in different world regions. Benchmark Terms:
Cultural patterns
Human activity
Sub-region
Econom
How will a coordinated study of these core disciplines contribute to effective citizenship? If all students take history or economics, it is obviously not because all students will become historians or economists. But history, geography, economics, and civics each offer distinct approaches and develop specific skills for examining common subject matter, which can be integrated in addressing a particular issue or event. What follows is a brief explanation of the specific importance of each core discipline.
History organizes events and phenomena in terms of when they occurred, examining where, how, and why they took place. Students study how individuals and societies have changed and interacted over time. They gather historical data, then examine, analyze, and interpret this data, presenting their results in a clear, critical manner. They organize events through chronologies, and evaluate cause-and-effect relationships among them. Citizens need to be able to research issues in order to understand the effect of historical developments and trends on contemporary events. They need the ability to examine the actions of other people faced with similar choices in different times. Studying history empowers students to form conclusions about the potential consequences of available options.
Geography organizes life situations in terms of where they occur. People interact with the natural world in culturally distinct ways to produce unique places, and those places change over time. The methods and perspectives of geography give students a spatial understanding of the world, and the ability to evaluate information in spatial terms. Citizens need to be able to examine the varying ways that peoples interact with their environments, and appreciate the diversity of the places those interactions create. They need to understand that the different ways in which people view places and conceptualize regions will affect their actions. Studying geography increases students' ability to analyze complex situations, events, and trends, and draw logical inferences from them.
Economics analyzes the production, allocation, distribution, and use of resources. Students examine the inherent relationship between costs and benefits, and the values associated with them. Understanding economic principles, whole economies, and the interactions between different types of economies helps students comprehend the exchange of information, capital, and products across the globe. Citizens need to be able to assess the impact of market influences and governmental actions on the economy in which they live. They need to understand the relation of economic systems and values to cultural values. Studying economics better equips students to make sound personal economic choices, and to participate effectively in social decision-making as citizens in an increasingly competitive and interdependent global economy.
Civics directly addresses citizenship education in the context of political systems. Students study the assumptions upon which governments are founded, and the strategies governments employ to achieve their goals. With respect to the United States, students learn the underlying principles of representative democracy, the constitutional separation of powers, and the rule of law. Citizens need to comprehend that an essential premise of representative democracy is the willingness to place a premium on personal participation in social decision-making. Studying civics prepares students to translate beliefs into actions and ideas into policies, to discharge their responsibilities while protecting their rights and the rights of others.
Europe
Focus Question: How have the major events, ideas and societies of the Middle Ages influenced modern culture?
Civics
Forms of governmentEconomics
Industrial RevolutionDifferences in standards of living
Geography
- size/interdependence
- Characteristics of regions
British IslesEastern Europe
Mediterranean
Northern Europe
Western Europe
- Isolation and landlocked
• pros and cons- Climate
***It is recommended that you begin each unit of study of physical and political geography.History
Chronology• Plague
• Industrial Revolution
Analysis
• Magna Carta
• English Bill of Rights
Interpretation
• Reformation
• World Wars
Content
• Feudal system, manors, serfs
History 1 - Students will examine historical materials relating to a particular region, society, or theme; analyze change over time, and make logical inferences concerning cause and effect.
Benchmark Terms:
Historical materials
Theme
Change over time
Logical inference
Cause
Effect
(Mexico, Central America and Caribbean)
Focus Question: How have government policies and other factors affected trade, interdependence and production among nations of Meso-America?
Civics
• Puerto Rico territory vs.statehood
• Immigration to USA – reasons – political and economic, immigration laws and procedures
Geography
History
Primary Sources- Mayan/Aztec/Columbus and Caribs
- Effects of European colonization and move towards independence
***It is recommended that you begin each unit of study of physical and political geography.Economics
Microeconomics/Macro-economics
• Current Event Activities
Economic Systems
- Traditional vs. Market
- Cuba-Command
EconomyInternational Trade
- Factors of specializtion climate, size, location
- Trade – NAFTA
Change in trade patternsChange in income
Econ 4 - Students will examine how nations with different economic systems specialize and become interdependent through trade and how government policies allow either free or restricted trade.
Benchmark Terms:
Specialize
Interdependent
Free trade
Restricted trade
Related Terms:
Embargo
Quota
Tariff
Subsidy
Surplus - Shortage
Domestic
Import - Export
Region Focus
Focus Question: In the Northern Hemisphere, how have political leaders encouraged their citizens to participate in government?
Economics
• Products and resources-- identification of
-- Canada - #1 trading
partner
-- NAFTA
Geography
US-Canada Comparison• landforms
• Great Lakes
• St. Lawrence Seaway vs.
Mississippi River
History
- French settlements
- French & Indian War
- Timelines
***It is recommended that you begin each unit of study of physical and political geography.Civics
Government• monarchy vs. republic
• Confederation (self-rule)
• functions of branches
• NATO – structure and
purpose
Politics
• Nunavut Territory – 1999
• French as a minority –
official language
Citizenship
• US-Canadian migration
Underground Railroad
Vietnam Draft Dodgers
Participation
• Referendum secession –
Quebec
Civics 3b - Students will understand that American citizenship includes responsibilities such as voting, jury duty, obeying the law, service in the armed forces when required, and public service.
Civics 4 - Students will follow the actions of elected officials, and understand and employ the mechanisms for communicating with them while in office.
Benchmark Terms:
Civil rights
Secure
Political
Public service
Property
Mechanisms
Rights
Region Focus
South America and
Antarctica
Focus Question: How have South American cultures developed into distinct geographic regions with unique patterns of economic, cultural and political features?
Civics
Economics
History
- Inca civilization
- Early civilizations – interaction with Europeans
- Early Colonization Portugal vs. Spain
Line of DemarcationSimon Bolivar
Geography
Maps• Hemispheres
• Lines of Latitude,
Equator, Tropic of
Capricorn, Antarctic
Circle
• Mental maps
Environment
• Formation of Andes and rivers
• Unique environments (deserts, rainforests, pampas, tundra)
Places
• Economic issues of
landlocked countries
(Bolivia, Paraguay)
• Brazil – Case Study
Regions
• Patagonia, Pampas, Llanos, Highlands, Amazon Basin, Andes, Coastal Plains
Geog 3 – Students will identify and explain the major cultural patterns of human activity in the world's sub-regions.
Geog 4a - Students will understand the processes affecting the location of economic activities in different world regions.
Benchmark Terms:
Cultural patterns
Human activity
Sub-region
Econom